Habibie ready 'to share power' with Megawati

JAKARTA (JP): A senior aide to President B.J. Habibie said on Saturday that his boss was ready to share power with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Jimly Assidiqie, Habibie's close friend and advisor, confirmed the President was ready to form a kind of coalition government with Megawati, whose party is leading in provisional poll results.

According to Jimly, the vice president's assistant for people's welfare and poverty alleviation, the President realized her party should be intensively involved in determining the country's next leader.

"I think he is ready ... he has to be prepared," said the professor of law in a discussion with journalists at Merdeka Selatan on Saturday.

Megawati is the only leader of the five major political leaders who has not turned up on invitation from Habibie to meet him at his private residence in South Jakarta.

He has met twice with National Awakening Party (PKB) founder Abdurrahman Wahid, Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung, National Mandate Party (PAN) leader Amien Rais and United Development Party (PPP) chairman Hamzah Haz.

"The first purpose of the meetings is to reduce tension, secondly to harmonize a perception in preventing the unexpected as much as possible in the presidential elections," Jimly said.

Sources at the palace agree with observations that Habibie has a considerable chance of being reelected given the opposition toward Megawati.

A government source said should this happen, Habibie would likely offer Megawati the position of vice president.

Despite having become a symbol of opposition to the government, PDI Perjuangan is seen by many as having similarities to Golkar.

While parties like PAN have questioned PDI Perjuangan's position on ending the dual role of the military and making changes to the 1945 Constitution, its noncommitment on the questions so far has been taken to mean that it takes a similar stance to Golkar on such matters.

Jimly hoped Megawati would take new initiatives so a dialog among major political party leaders would create a conducive atmosphere in the society, including among their supporters.

"Whoever would be elected as the next president, the president-elect has to consider accommodating all groups who got major votes in the elections," he said.(prb)